Released: 2019

Genres: Neo-Psychedelia, Psychedelic Pop, Spoken-Word

The Musiquarium’s King’s Mouth: Music and Songs Review Score: 7 out of 10

On their 15th album, The Flaming Lips return to the storytelling and whimsy of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, this time with narration from Mick Jones of The Clash.

In typical Flaming Lips fashion, the story here is ludicrous. It involves a royal baby, whose birth kills his mother due to the size of his brain. The giant baby ends up saving a city from disaster with said brain and then has his head chopped off and lived inside of by his followers — only Wayne Coyne could come up with something this bizarre.

Aside from the the novelty of the Mick Jones narration, the album feels a bit regressive and light, arriving after darker (and superior) albums like Embryonic and The Terror. I will give praise to King’s Mouth for its ambition, but otherwise, it doesn’t hold up to the band’s other post-Soft Bulletin works, save for maybe the previous year’s Oczy Mlody.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view The Flaming Lips on Discogs.

Back to the 2019 Album Guide or the The Flaming Lips Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard